The Federal government of Nigeria has boasted that the country is leading by example in health sector investment and reforms.
The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate who spoke on behalf of the Nigerian government, informed African leaders that President Tinubu administration has expanded primary health care, and improved national health insurance coverage with over 18 million Nigerians seen at primary health centers nationwide and an additional 2.4m Nigerians newly covered with insurance in 2024.
Professor Pate, while representing President Bola Tinubu at the African Union’s Ministerial Executive Conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Thursday, stated that 12 million Nigerian girls have been immunized against HPV over the past 12 months, noting that despite significant changes in global health financing that Nigeria is now using the situation as a platform for innovative adaptation and growth.
The Coordinating Minister of Health explained that the policies of President Tinubu, who serves as the AU’s Champion for Health, has enabled the expansion of health workforce quotas for training nurses, pharmacists, medical students, and laboratory scientists to increase from 20,000 to 64,000 even as government sets to increase the retirement age for skilled health professionals from 60 to 65 years of age.
(Editor: Ken Eseni)
